MMA Today’s The Week That Was In Combat Sports

Welcome back to another “Week That Was in Combat Sports!” This past week has been a good one for MMA, where we had plenty of choices to take care of our combat sports addiction. And as usual, some crazy sights happened in the world of MMA, including the Irish nutcase we all love to hate!

Let’s get this bad boy rolling with UFC Norfolk, where there was a nasty “hellbow,” a bloody main event, and a fighter wearing a diaper!

ONE Championship crowned its first two-division title holder over the weekend. Martin Nguyen went into the event as the ONE Featherweight Champion and came out with the ONE Lightweight Championship too!

A “Situ-Asian” like no other before, achieving something no one else in ONE history has – put your hands in the air for your new simultaneous two-division world champion… ONE Lightweight & Featherweight World Champion, Martin Nguyen! 🙌 #Manila#MartialArtspic.twitter.com/ZnFzpk0t9I

Bellator 187 event took place in Dublin, Ireland over the weekend. Bellator co-promoted the event with one of the top European promotions, BAMMA. The two promotions put on great fights as usual but were overshadowed by an unfortunate event brought to us by UFC Lightweight Champion and a guy who thinks he is bigger than the sport of MMA, Conor McGregor. The guy is out-of-control with his shenanigans. Nearly every week, we are talking about him doing something ridiculous. This time he overstepped his boundaries by entering the cage when he wasn’t cornering a fighter, pushing a referee and slapping someone who works for the commission which oversees the event. He needs to be made aware that he cannot do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to do it. There is no fighter bigger than the sport of MMA. And possible on drugs. Just ask Jon Jones.

Aside from the McGregor incident, Bellator 187 had four fights on the main card and all four ended by knockout. Bellator has been on a good run as of late, by showcasing up-and-coming talented fighters on the part of the card that is televised is a wise decision. Bellator 188 is set for this upcoming Friday from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Bellator announced they will be holding a Heavyweight World Grand Prix which will be a tournament between eight men who should all be retired. Maybe not all, but definitely a couple. MMA Today’s Doug Geller wrote about the possible match-ups HERE!

One of my personal favorite boxers growing up has said he would come out of retirement to fight Conor McGregor and would knock him out in two rounds. This man has held 10 world titles in six different weight classes. This man has also had a pretty dirty personal life. This man is still to this day one of my favorite boxers to watch. But please, I beg you, Oscar de la Hoya, stay retired, stay out of the ring and keep promoting and keep doing good for boxing by bringing up young talent and making them world champions. The sport doesn’t need another circus, what it needs is leadership. Be a leader and make big fights that will bring people to the fights and to their televisions. Boxing does not need another circus. Boxing needs for you, Oscar de la Hoya, to stay out of the ring and keep Conor McGregor out as well.

OSCAR de la HOYA – PLEASE. STAY. OUT. OF. THE. RING.

Now I’m done *sigh* I need my inhaler.

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva was popped by USADA for violation of their Anti-Doping Policy which came from an out-of-competition sample and is now out of his fight with Kelvin Gastelum which was supposed to headline UFC Shanghai. This is not the first time “The Spider” has failed a test. Last time was after a fight in which he beat Nick Diaz at UFC 183. Is it time for Silva just to hang ’em up? Probably. But he won’t. Not until he gets KO’ed by a young buck trying to make a name for himself in the UFC. Which is too bad because Anderson Silva is truly one of the best to step into an MMA cage. Here’s his poor excuse of an apology, if you’re even interested.

The quarterfinals of the Road FC $1 Million Lightweight Tournament took place this past weekend, where Ronys Torres, Mansour Barnaoui, Shamil Zavurov and Kota Shimoishi won their fights and will move on to the semifinals. The bracket has been realigned from the original way the fights were supposed to go down. This a compelling tournament especially since there is $1 Million up-for-grabs. Read more about Road FC’s Lightweight Tournament HERE!

Combate Americas held a one-night eight-man Bantamweight tournament last Saturday. Combate Americas is turning into a legitimate MMA organization on the rise. They put on a great show, with fighters who are there to throw down. Levy Marroquin won the tournament as an alternate by beating John Castaneda by unanimous decision in a very good finals matchup. Although the night of fights were good, it was the ending that showed why we love MMA!

Former Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping lost his fight and championship to Georges St-Pierre just two weeks ago at UFC 217. Bisping will make a quick turnaround and take Anderson Silva’s spot against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Shanghai next weekend on November 25’th. This is pretty ballsy of Bisping considering the brutal beatdown he just took and going on such a short break against a guy who is a beast. It will be interesting to see if Bisping comes back in Bisping fashion or if this is the beginning of the end for the former champion.

Eddie Bravo’s Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds 1 took place over the weekend on UFC Fight Pass Pay-Per-View. I’m not sure how to feel about jiu-jitsu with palm strikes but take a look for yourself.

ONE Championship’s Atomweight Champion Angela Lee was in a horrific car accident where her car flipped over 5-to-6 times. Lee fella asleep at the wheel on her way to a training session in the early morning. Lee was set to defend her title on November 24th in Singapore against Mei Yamaguchi. The champion is on her way to making a full recovery. I wish Lee the best and hope to see her back in the cage soon. Read more details here.

It has been reported that UFC 219 might have a Welterweight title bout between champion Tyron Woodley and former title contender and #6-ranked Lightweight Nate Diaz. The fight hasn’t been set in stone as of yet but there have been multiple reports on the fight taking place. I’ve seen and heard many viewpoints on this fight, some like it and some don’t. I’m the guy who wants champions to defend their belts against fights in their division. But for this fight, given that Woodley has run through his division and has been a fighting champion, why not? Both Woodley and Diaz are down for a fight once they’re in the Octagon. This will not be the classic wrestler versus wrestler matchup, this will be more of a wrestler with knockout power (Woodley) taking on a brawling jiu-jitsu bad ass (Diaz). Quite frankly, I’m pumped for the possibility of this fight. I may have a bias here, but I want Diaz to bring that strap home to Stockton. However this fight turns out, the shit-talking leading up to fight will be great and the fight itself should be a contender for Fight of the Year.